Nintendo’s popular franchise claims the top spot of the UK All Formats Chart this week. Pokémon Diamond for the DS debuts at number one while Pokémon Pearl debuts at number three. Pokémon Diamond’s success secures it the title of fastest selling DS game as well as the second fastest selling Pokémon game. Released more than 7 years ago, the GameBoy Colour’s Pokémon Yellow remains the fastest selling Pokémon game.

Activision’s Transformers: The Game slides into spot number 2. With sales boosted by 76% thanks to the film’s launch, Transformers narrowly misses out on the top spot by a mere 217 units. Transformers: The Game continues to do well across the formats, hanging on to number 1 in the PS2 and Xbox 360 charts as well as securing the top spot in the PSP charts. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix drops from last week’s number 1 to this week’s number four.

The All Formats Top 10 now features no fewer than four DS exclusives and two Wii exclusives, all published by Nintendo. EA and Activision scoop the remaining four Top 10 titles which feature a large number of formats.

Brain training proves it is still popular with Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree falling one place to number 5 but boasting increased sales of 44% on it launch week. The two brain training DS games are not to be completely overshadowed, however, with More Brain Training claiming spot number 6 (drops three places) and the original Brain Training number 9 (drops one place). Despite a 22% increase in sales, Wii Play drops two places to number 7. Shrek the Third slides into number 8 with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 claiming the final spot in the All Formats Top 10.

In terms of new entries, EA’s Rugby 08 features at number 22 while Activision’s Transformers: The Game – Autobot for the DS enters at number 38.

Source: Chart Track

It’s finally official, Rare is developing Viva Piñata for the DS. The developers announced that the candy filled Piñatas would be trampling onto the DS at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Rare will be developing Viva Piñata for the DS in-house and promised to have a full section on their website once more details and screenshots become available. They also released the first official screenshot of the game, which you can feast your eyes on below.

According to Rare, Piñata fans can expect a full-size game, the only difference being that you can keep it in your pocket. Viva Piñata for the DS will feature the entire range of Piñatas that we grew to love on the Xbox 360 as well as new Piñatas to ‘spice things up for those familiar with the established cast.’

Gamers can look forward to an expanded selection of tools and tool actions as well as upgraded forms of the Journal and Encyclopedia. Also keep a look out for new game modes such as Sandbox (for full and easy access to your favourite Piñatas) and Episodes (tying in more closely to the TV series, this allows show fans to spend time with familiar faces).

One of the biggest changes in the game will be the control method. Viva Piñata for the DS will feature stylus input and will completely transform your interaction with the Piñatas. Players will be able to design, nurture, instruct, protect and care for their garden and animals through direct touch. In addition players can use the DS Wi-Fi Connection Service to share Piñatas with friends.

Rare promise ‘more details as and when they arrive,’ so watch this space because more Piñata fun is bound to surface soon!

Nintendo of America added three classic new games to the Wii Shop Channel this week.

This week’s new games are (descriptions as per Nintendo):

Star Soldier (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii points)

The standard for vertically scrolling shooters, Star Soldier is the original game that spawned all of the titles in the long-running Soldier series. Go inside a floating space station inhabited by a giant computer known as Starbrain. Your mission: to stop Starbrain’s galactic invasion by piloting Caesar, a new, compact space fighter through 16 deadly stages. Collect power capsules to increase three different attributes of your ship: firepower, movement speed and defensive shields. Blast wave after wave of approaching enemies or use the innovative Trap Zone feature to fly beneath a land mass and avoid incoming fire. Conquer each stage to make your way to the final confrontation with Starbrain.

Dynamite Headdy (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)

Headdy, a toy with a detachable head, arrives in North Town to find that the evil puppet king Dark Demon is causing serious problems. Dark Demon is gathering up all the puppets in town and turning some into his own evil minions, while eliminating the rest of the puppets that aren’t good enough to join his legions. Headdy is captured and is targeted for the incinerator, but escapes in the nick of time. Now he’s got to save the town. To do so, Headdy has to take on all manner of bad guys and even has to contend with his lifelong nemesis, Trouble Bruin the bear. Can Headdy overcome all his foes and take down Dark Demon?

Drop Off (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

Brave five rounds of haunting, nightmarish dreams in this take on the classic arcade puzzler. To save his dearly beloved from the malicious demon that controls her dreams and holds her captive, our brave hero plunges himself into the nightmare to vanquish this evil foe. Deftly use the arrow items and control the angle of the ball to shatter the blocks that descend from the top of the screen. Set your sights on the joints holding the blocks together and knock off multiple blocks in one exhilarating blow. As you drop more and more blocks, their shapes will change, allowing you to earn bonus points. You must use your concentration and reflexes to defeat the demon and save your beloved.

According to a recent post on SCEA’s PlayStation Blog, Rockstar Games is creating a new franchise exclusively for the PS3.

Michael Shorrock, Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA, commented “We are announcing that a new franchise from Rockstar Games will be exclusive to PS3. As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we’ve agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios.”

Harnessing the power of the PS3

According to Shorrock the game is “not LA Noire, but something all new.” He continued that “Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.”

SCEA has agreed with Rockstar and Take Two that nothing further about the deal or title would be disclosed at this time but promised to “share more info as soon as [they] could.”

Lexicon Entertainment recently announced Voltage for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Produced by the IBA Group, Voltage is a futuristic 3D racer featuring real-time strategy elements. Voltage is slated to be released in autumn 2008.

Voltage is set in 3005 and sees players racing on Solar system planets (including Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn as well as the Moon and Europa) in technologically advanced races. Rendered to resemble the original conditions of the planets, Voltage also includes added elements such as futuristic constructions, light sails, factories, storehouses and tunnels.

Boost it

Set out to win the title of Solar System’s Best Racer as you choose from various vehicles powered by anti-gravity engines that are equipped with three engine modifications - electricity, nuclear and tachyon fuel. Players will be able to boost depending on what fuel type is available and depending on the situation.

Each engine type has different fuel power-ups. For interest’s sake let me explain that Tachyon fuel is based on a hypothetical subatomic particle that enables players to travel faster than the speed of light. Players can use Tachyon fuel to accelerate the vehicle and push away competitors.

Power up!

Featuring futuristic tracks with teleports, flash EMB, electromagnetic platforms as well as nuclear and tachyon fuel power-ups, Voltage will see players keeping a keen eye out for shortcuts and the best routes, all the while battling it out with opponents to hang on to the coveted first place. Be warned though because these bonuses are available to both players and their opponents.

Voltage features 15 non-linear tracks on a total of seven planets. You will have to perfect your skills before you can even reach some areas of the tracks. Upper sections of the track can only be reached at full speed with the Jump and Fly Feature while some vertical sections will challenge even the best driver. Voltage features three game modes: Championship, Quick Race and Multiplayer.

LucasArts and TT Games recently announced that LEGO Indiana Jones: The Videogame (working title) will be heading to game consoles in summer 2008. Developed by the Traveller’s Tales team that brought gamers the LEGO Star Wars series, LEGO Indiana Jones is a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ take on the first three film adventures of Indy including Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Temple of Doom and the Last Crusade.

Indy fans can head over to the LEGO Indiana Jones website. Although somewhat bare at the moment, you can feast your eyes on a trailer which details what we can expect from the game play. The website currently lists platforms as ‘TBA,’ although you can expect to see it make an appearance on next-gen consoles and perhaps even handhelds.

“LucasArts and TT Games are setting the bar for next-generation family entertainment with the LEGO Star Wars franchise, and our incredible relationship continues with LEGO Indiana Jones,” said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. “In addition to providing the quality bonding time inspired by any good family game, LEGO Indiana Jones delivers something a little different for everyone. Parents will enjoy the humorous take on some of their favorite movies, and their kids get some rousing action/adventure game play that may also introduce them to Indy’s original adventures for the first time.”

“It has been a real joy to work with LucasArts on the LEGO Star Wars games. Indiana Jones is the perfect character for the next LEGO-based videogame adventure,” said Tom Stone, director at TT Games. “Indy also presents us with wonderful and memorable cinematic moments. The boulder scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark in LEGO is hilarious!”

LucasArts is currently working on an internally developed Indiana Jones videogame. Boasting an original story overseen by George Lucas, the new tale will take place a year after the Last Crusade.

EA recently announced that EA Chicago is set to develop a new Marvel Super Hero fighting game. Expected out in 2008, the Marvel fighting game will be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

“We looked at past comic-based games to find out what was missing and what was needed to successfully translate the intensity, excitement and fiction from comics into fighting games,” said Kudo Tsunoda, General Manager and Vice President, EA Chicago. “We’re challenging ourselves to make a game that delivers on the Super Hero promises of past top-tier fighting games.”

Delivering to comic book fans and fighting game diehards

“Marvel Super Heroes are a natural fit in the fighting game genre, so we’re excited to have Kudo and his team of fighting game experts put these characters toe-to-toe against each other on next generation consoles,” said Justin Lambros, Vice President of Interactive, Marvel Entertainment. “This is a game that will deliver to both comic book fans and to fighting game diehards.”

“Featuring a great all-star line-up of Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains with incredible powers that are authentic to the fiction, huge environments and a living world that keeps the gameplay fresh, every battle will be unique; every battle will be like a first edition,” added Tsunoda.

For the week of 16th to 22nd of July 2007, the latest instalment in Konami’s long running Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball was the top selling game according to video game sales tracking firm Media Create. The PS2 version topped the sales charts with 153 thousand copies sold, while the Wii version came in third place with 48 thousand copies sold.

In second place was last week’s winner, Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii). The game suffered a large drop off from last week, selling only 53 thousand copies this week (compared to 305 thousand last week) but it is possible that this is simply due to a shortage of stock after the initial shipment by Square Enix sold out.

Nintendo’s long running games

Coming in fourth, and proving to have a lot of staying power, is Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass with 47 thousand copies sold in its fifth week. Wii Sports continues its phenomonal run and is closing in on the two million mark, selling 40 thousand copies this week and taking fifth place. Wii Play also continues to chart, this week at number eight with 29 thousand copies sold. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day is Nintendo’s latest Touch Generation chart performer, taking 7th place with 31 thousand copies sold. But most impressive of Nintendo’s consistently selling games is New Super Mario Bros which was back in the top 10 again this week with nearly 21 thousand copies sold over a year after release, and after having already sold 4.6 million copies.

Other new entries

Sega’s Mushi King Super Collection (NDS) entered the chart this week in sixth place with 32.7 thousand copies sold, while Takara-Tomy’s fifth Naruto game for the DS entered at ninth with 28 thousand copies sold. Other new entries included ArcSystemWorks’ Detective Saburou Jinguuji DS: Ancient Memory (NDS) at 11, Hudson’s Momotarou Dentetsu 16: Trip to Hokkaido! (Wii) at 21, and Banpresto’s Nodame Cantabile (PS2) at 34.

The hardware chart continues to be very consistent week on week, with the only change of note coming from the drop off of Wii sales from 110 thousand to 87 thousand after last week’s jump due to Dragon Quest Swords’ release.

This week sees the release of some big first party titles in Mario Party 8 for the Wii and Hot Shots Golf 5 for the PS3, both of which will likely be contending for the top spot. Also contending for spots in the top 10 are Namco Bandai’s latest Gundam game for the Wii, Square Enix’s It’s a Wonderful World for the DS, and Oblivion for the 360 which is published by Spike in Japan.

Hardware chart

Software chart

Upcoming Titles

Special thanks to: Media Create, Play-asia.com, NeoGAF, Dengeki and Google for the information and translations of Japanese game titles

Ubisoft has announced that the Lost video game will ship in the first quarter of 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, the Lost video game is based on the popular TV series and ‘will allow players to experience an untold adventure of Lost in an immersive, interactive world.’

“Ubisoft is thrilled to be collaborating with ABC to develop this phenomenal television series into an interactive experience,” said Helene Juguet, senior director of marketing for Ubisoft. “Ubisoft has worked closely with ABC Studios and the show’s producers to create a compelling storyline that has the same mystery, adventure and intensity fans of the show have come to expect from the ‘Lost’ brand.”

A bit about the game

The game starts as Oceanic Flight 815 crashes and players find themselves on an unchartered island in the Pacific Ocean. Apparently players will begin to unravel mysteries about the island as well as their own secrets if they are to survive and find their way home. The game sees players assuming the role of a survivor of the crashed flight and delivers an authentic Lost experience with familiar locations and main characters from the show. Players will need to survive the island’s challenges as they solve puzzles, outsmart enemies, battle the smoke monster and, most importantly, try to stay alive!

Sense of adventure and suspense

“We’re very excited to be working with Ubisoft to develop a game that captures the same surprise and intrigue as ‘Lost,’” said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president, business development, ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. “The series has such a loyal audience, and we’re happy to bring fans an additional way to interact and engage with their favorite characters.”

“The sense of adventure and suspense that we strive for in the show is also captured in the Lost video game,” said Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, executive producers of the ‘Lost’ television series. “Ubisoft has done a fantastic job and come up with a game that is visually amazing and imaginative both on its own and as an extension of the world of the show.”

Ubisoft was set to showcase the first official video game trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday.

Ubisoft has signed a licensing agreement with Universal Pictures to develop and publish a video game based on Tim Kring’s popular TV drama series Heroes. Heroes will be a third person action game and is set to be released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in late 2008.

“We are very excited to be making the ‘Heroes’ video game with Ubisoft,” said Tim Kring, executive producer and creator of “Heroes.” “Time and again, Ubisoft has proven they can turn licensed properties into fantastic games.”

Developed internally at Ubisoft under the close eye of the television team, Heroes will focus on the entire cast of the TV series. The game is slated to offer its own insight into the franchise rather than retell the first or second series of the show.

“Heroes is an epic drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people across the world who discover they possess extraordinary abilities, such as telepathy, time travel and flight. They will soon come to realize that the fate of the world depends on them, and be forced to team up against someone seeking to eliminate them. With a gripping storyline and rich characters, Heroes lends itself naturally to a video game format,” said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. “By offering people the chance to interact directly with the show’s captivating universe, there is no doubt that the game will appeal to both fans of the series and avid gamers.”

Ubisoft today announced that Beowulf is currently in development for the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP and PC. Beowulf is an action combat game that will be based on Paramount Pictures’ and Shangri-La Entertainment’s upcoming film of the same name. Developed by Ubisoft’s Tiwak Studio, Beowulf is scheduled to be released worldwide at the same time as the film’s opening in November 2007.

Beowulf is a legendary Norse warrior who has the strength of 30 men but is torn between the nobility and brutality that lies within him. Players will live the life of Beowulf as he lusts after gold and glory, embarks on a journey to Denmark to destroy a beast and is eventually overcome by the lure of fame and seeks to claim the Danish throne. However, Beowulf soon discovers that with fame comes responsibility as the realm is struck by war. Players will lead Beowulf into battle as he commands armies, slays Titans and seeks to destroy those enemies who wish to destroy the kingdom. But the greatest battle lies within and Beowulf will have to discover what kind of hero he has become.

Exclusive content

“Ubisoft, Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment have been working extremely close in developing Beowulf,” said Gilles Matouba, creative director at Ubisoft. “From the very beginning, we have had an unprecedented level of access to information and assets from the movie. This access, coupled with the creative and technological abilities of our team, has allowed us to capture aspects of the film and translate them perfectly into compelling gameplay elements such as the visceral hand-to-hand combat, dynamic swordplay and amazing visuals, while giving us the creative liberty to go even further by creating exclusive content for the game that is unexplored by the film and even the classic tale.”

Features

Players will be able to play through over 30 years of the Beowulf story not seen in the movie. Players will be able to unlock an army of up to 12 thanes as they save thanes and kill monsters, and their heroic experience increases. Command the thane army to your advantage as you give orders, assign positions and tailor weapons to the situation or enemy. The thane army will evolve with upgradeable weapons (including swords, mace and spears), skills and abilities. Players can gain thanes, replace weapons and upgrade Carnal abilities by using legacy experience points.

Players can use stronger attacks and special weapons by using Carnal Power. Carnal upgrades include less daze after use and prolonged use of Carnal Fury but be warned because if used too much have dire consequences. As the player progresses, a dynamic combat system delivers combos, parries and increasing skills. Beowulf also has a grab ability which enables him to hold on to walls or climb and fight close in hand-to-hand combat with enemies.

“The talented creators at Ubisoft are transforming our vision of the film into an interactive experience that extends the epic adventure far beyond its classic storyline,” said Robert Zemeckis, director of Beowulf. “We’ve been thoroughly impressed with what we’ve seen from the game makers and are confident that gamers will find it to be an immersive and entertaining experience that goes far beyond the traditional movie-licensed game.”

This week Nintendo of Europe released two classic titles for the Wii Shop Channel. This week’s new releases are:

Kirby’s Ghost Trap was originally released on the SNES in 1995. Prepare to battle Kirby’s enemies by stacking and blending fast paced, colour-coded blobs. The blobs will form chain reactions which will cause ghosts to fall on your opponent. Featuring 16 action packed levels, four difficulty levels, a two player mode and familiar enemies from the Kirby world, gamers can download Kirby’s Trap for 800 Wii Points.

Devil’s Crush was originally released on the Turbografx in 1990. This pinball simulation game is the sequel to the popular Alien Crush. Players must use the Devil Shooter to propel a ball on to a living pinball table and keep it in play using flippers as you destroy monsters, break spells and return light to the cursed world. Players can look forward to six bonus stages to unlock, a two player mode as well as a ghoulish backdrop with wandering enemies. Also look out for the save system which enables gamers to return to the pinball action at any time. Devil’s Crush costs 600 Wii Points.

SCEE and SKY today announced that they have formed a Joint Venture company to deliver on-demand entertainment content to PSP owners in the UK and Ireland.

The Joint Venture company will have equal Board level representation from SKY and SCEE and hopes to establish the PSP and new video download service as the number one choice for portable entertainment content.

The Joint Venture will focus exclusively on delivering video content to the PSP and will initially provide video and film content to over 2.3 million PSP owners in the UK and Ireland. Both SCEE and SKY are currently discussing plans to facilitate the introduction of this service to European PSP owners with entertainment content providers across Europe.

Be sure to watch this space because SCEE will be announcing more information on this service in Leipzig, Germany on the 22nd of August.

Nielson Company recently launched its gaming industry data-tracking service, GamePlay Metrics. GamePlay Metrics combines data from Nielson’s TV monitoring service from over 12 000 households with approximately 33 000 individuals, electronically tracking and reporting on the monthly usage of the six main video gaming consoles that are most widely available (including PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and GameCube) and PC games.

Sony PS2 still tops

Despite the availability of three next generation consoles, Sony’s PS2 remains a firm favourite among gamers, accounting for 42% of video game console usage during June. The original Xbox was the next most frequently played system (17%), followed by the Xbox 360 (8%), the GameCube (5.8%), the Wii (4%) and the PS3 (1.5%). The remaining 21% was divided between other console systems.

If you are a PC gamer you will be interested to know that World of Warcraft is played more than four times as much as any other PC game. Although this is somewhat unsurprising given Blizzard’s recent announcement that World of Warcraft now has a player base totaling more than 9 million subscribers worldwide. WOW gamers play an average of 17 hours per week, accounting for almost 18% of all PC gaming in June.

Wii facts

Additional findings included the fact that there are seasonal use patterns of game play. For example, Wii’s peak usage hour was 5pm in April but now during the summer break the usage of Wii peaks at 8pm. Another rather interesting finding was that Wii households are more upscale, likely to earn more than $100 000 income per year.

Daily sessions and average play time

Nielson is also tracking how many daily play sessions each console gets as well as the average length of these sittings. The report revealed that 68.1 million individuals used a video game console during June, playing an average of 7.5 days during the month. Xbox 360 gamers logged the highest average of 2.2 sessions on the days they played, logging an average session of 61 minutes. PS3 gamers, however, logged an average of 1.9 sessions on the days they played but the average session length stands higher at 83 minutes. The Xbox and PS2 were next in line, sharing the next longest playtimes, with an average of 62 minutes. The GameCube clocked in at an average of 55 minutes per session.

Nielsen GamePlay Metrics Console Usage Report Trend for June 2007/May 2007

* Other consists of any other console systems found in the home, such

as vSmile, Sega, FC Twin video system, Game Wave Family Entertainment

System, etc.

Who’s playing what

Nielson GamePlay Metrics can show “who is playing games, on which systems, at what times, and, when integrated with other Nielsen data, illustrates which other media platforms are also engaging gamers and which consumer goods they’re likely to buy.” The ultimate goal of this service is to establish a metric that can be used for buying and selling both dynamic and static advertisements in PC and console video games.

Nielson collects PC data from a video game tracking survey of 1 200 gamers between 7 – 54 years of age that it has been running for over two years. Gamers must own a console or PC, play video games at least 1 hour per week and have purchased one or more video games in the last six months.

“With Nielsen GamePlay Metrics, we have significantly advanced the understanding of how video game consoles are used and which games are actually being played,” said Jeff Herrmann, Vice President of Nielsen Games and Nielsen Wireless. “This is the first glimpse of metered in-home video game player data, providing game publishers, console manufacturers, advertisers and competing entertainment media with the most accurate, objective, and quantifiable metric available. We believe this will change the discussions surrounding which games get developed for what consoles and how publishers represent their actual audience to advertisers.”

PC game rankings

As mentioned above, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft was the most played PC game in June. It turns out that it was hardly a competition because WOW outranks the next most played game by four times. Following WOW the top five PC games for June included Halo: Combat Evolved (3.6% of PC play time, average of 8.5 hours per week), The Sims from EA (3.3% of total PC play time, average of less than 4 hours per week), Halo 2 from Microsoft Game Studios and RuneScape from Jagex.

Source: Nielson

Earlier today at Comic-Con, Microsoft announced that it will be lowering the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD player from $199 to $179. This price cut, available only in the US, will be effective from the 1st of August. Microsoft will also throw in five free HD DVD movies to anyone buying an Xbox 360 HD DVD player between the 1st of August and the 30th of September.

Microsoft also announced exclusive content for Xbox Live Marketplace to promote the HD DVD versions of ‘300’ and ‘Heroes: Season 1.’ Starting from the 14th of August, Xbox Live will offer ‘300’ on demand in HD. Xbox Live members will also be able to download ‘Heroes: Season 1’ pilot episode in HD. This free download will be for a limited time only and is ahead of the release date for the boxed set. If you are a Heroes fan also look out for trailers and teaser scenes which will be downloadable on Xbox Live.

“With the price reduction to $179, the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player continues to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace — both of which have a selection of the best content Hollywood has to offer. Today’s announcements around ‘300’ and ‘Heroes: Season 1’ are great examples of how we believe HD content can be offered to consumers.”

As mentioned above, Microsoft is also offering five free HD DVD discs to consumers who purchase the Xbox 360 HD DVD player at $179. Consumers will be able to choose from 15 popular titles, worth over $140.